Debaters Take World Title

A Harvard team became the second American pair ever to win the World Debate Championships held at Oxford University yesterday.

David S. Friedman '93 and David J. Kennedy '93 competed against 13 other debate teams--defeating teams from Australian National University, Hart House of the University of Toronto and Macquarie University of Sydney--to become the 1993 World Champions.

"We worked really hard for this," Kennedy added. "We thought we'd do well but not this well."

The other Harvard team in the competition, the pair of Yellow L. Breen '93 and Jane S. Park '94, advanced to the semifinals.

The tournament hosted 188 teams from approximately 20 countries and was conducted in the Scottish style of debate.

The relatively unstructured Scottish debate format emphasizes the strength of rhetoric and style instead of the structure of the arguments. It is characterized by interruptions and more direct confrontations than the American format.

American teams, unfamiliar with the Scottish style, traditionally have not done well in this event. Friedman and Kennedy were the first team ever to win without prior experience in Scottish style debate, according to their coach Kevin D. Sneader.

Sneader, who won the event in 1987 and is now at Harvard Business School, and Mark Urquhart, a student at the Kennedy School, coached the two teams.

Park said the coaches "helped us Europeanize our style" and let go of the American mentality. The two teams from Harvard were among the least experienced teams with the Scottish format, according to Sneader.

Breen said competing in the Scottish style ofdebate was "quite a transition" and that the teamhad to make adjustments in both structure andstyle.

Kennedy said he was "exceptionally happy."

But he added that he was "stunned" by thevictory because his team was much less experiencedthan the others.

The final round in which Friedman and hecompeted was just their 18th debate in theScottish format

Breen said competing in the Scottish style ofdebate was "quite a transition" and that the teamhad to make adjustments in both structure andstyle.

Kennedy said he was "exceptionally happy."

But he added that he was "stunned" by thevictory because his team was much less experiencedthan the others.

The final round in which Friedman and hecompeted was just their 18th debate in theScottish format